Football Overkill? — Here Comes a FOURTH Professional League

A FOURTH pro football league is on the way. It's the THIRD new league to be announced THIS YEAR.

Joining the 8-team AAF and the XFL -featuring Seattle as one of its eight teams, is a group of 50 former NFL players, including NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Owens, Ricky Williams, Jeff Garcia and Simeon Rice, and they're calling their new endeavor the Freedom Football League. The players are among approximately 100 stakeholders.

The FFL's formation was done with the intention of "reimagining, rethinking, reinventing and reforming" the game.

The FFL said in a statement that its mission is "to attract football players at their highest level of athletic ability, including those defecting from the NFL, graduating college or high school or playing in international or alternative professional football leagues."

The league said it would be financed through a combination of private funding and public offerings in 2019, meaning fans would be "true owners and legally-committed business partners."

As for players, the FFL said it would ensure they would receive "permanent and reliable holistic health and wellness support on and off the field." In addition, the league said it would encourage athletes to address societal challenges and other "hot button" issues.